John Albert set out with an army of 80,000 men with the objectives of deposing Stephen the Great of Moldavia and replacing him with Sigismund Jagiellon, reconquering the fortresses on the northern Black Sea coast and taking control of Crimea and the Danube Delta.

[3][8] John I Albert was elected due to his advocacy for an offensive policy against the Ottomans, and he made an alliance with Venice and Hungary for a joint effort against them.

[2] After some years of preparation, Albert sent an envoy to Istanbul asking for peace but Bayazid II rejected this and both sides were ready for war by 1497.

[3] Albert was able to raise an army of 80,000 men and 200 cannons, in the summer of 1497 he set out planning to reconquer the fortresses on the northern Black Sea coast and take control of Crimea and the Danube Delta, while Stephen the Great of Moldavia was able to secure Ottoman support.

[2][10][11] As a result of this campaign, the Crimean Tatars were now left with a major empire including the entire steppe north of the Crimea from the Dniester to the Volga under the suzerainty of the Ottoman sultan.